The German Pat. No. 1,552,150 discloses an arrangement for feeding helical wire springs from a spring winding machine to a spring frame assembly machine. This arrangement picks up the springs produced by the winding machine and delivers them via conveyer belts to the spring frame assembly machine which produces finished spring frames as used in mattresses and cushions. The direct connection of a winding machine with an assembly machine, however, has the disadvantage that stoppages caused, for example, by poor wire bring the entire installation to a standstill.
Therefore, it is advantageous to place the finished and already inspected springs in bunches into a feeding arrangement and to feed the spring frame assembly machine. Such an arrangement has become known from the German Laid-Open Document No. 1,752,815. Here the springs are moved by sawtoothed feed rails in a guide at whose end they are taken over by fingers. Since the knots at the winding ends of the springs during insertion into the assembly machine must be in a specific position, the springs are aligned while being fed. This known arrangement has a very complex construction which is subject to frequent breakdown.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an arrangement to separate and align the delivered springs in a very simple manner rarely subject to trouble, and to deliver them to the known assembly machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of the foregoing character which is substantially simple in construction and may be economically fabricated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method and device for separating helical springs, as described, which may be readily maintained in service and which has a substantially long operating life.